1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to embroidery. More specifically, the invention is a device for aligning and holding a hat, visor, or other head apparel in place in a sewing machine or an embroidery machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern embroidery machines are typically operated under computer control. Various devices and improvements have been designed to adapt modern embroidery machines for sewing logos, monograms, emblems, and various other designs and patterns on hats popularly known as baseball caps. The cap will typically be placed in a clamping device known as a cap frame, referred to generally as a hoop, the hoop in turn being mounted on a computer controlled hoop guide, also known as the X-Y driver, of an embroidery machine, the hoop guide being manipulated to present different sewing areas to the sewing head of the embroidery machine.
It should be noted that the manners by which hoops are attached and/or released from an embroidery machine on the one hand, and a bracket attached to a hooping device work surface on the other hand, often differ significantly. U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,828, issued to Donald G. Rowley in September, 1996, discloses a hoop attachment assembly for accurately and securely mounting an embroidery hoop frame to the embroidery machine. Similarly U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,370, issued to Mathias Herbach in May, 1997, discloses a device for detachably fastening an embroidery frame to the X-Y driver of an embroidery machine.
Ronald Inteso, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,488 issued in July 1986, presents an alternative approach for an embroidery frame, in which the hoop is easily mounted directly to an embroidery machine without a special adaptor. The ""488 patent describes an embroidery frame for caps having a top element and a bottom element to clamp the brim at its free end, with clips extending over the top surface of the brim from under the top element of the clamp to the base of the cap. A clamp extends across the frame and comprises a cross-member with a number of teeth that penetrate and grab a portion of a hat to be embroidered. Intenso describes an improvement to this device in U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,753, issued May 23, 1989, in which the brim of the cap is held between a front member of the frame and a clamp. The front member has a lever mounted thereon, which raises and lowers a curved rod that secures the cap at the rear of the brim. It will be noted that the purpose of the clips of the first device and the rod of the second device is to pull the front face of the cap taut in order to minimize distortion in the sewing, and that the position of the lever necessarily limits the sewing head""s access to the sewing area.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,571, issued to Valadez et al. in March, 1999, discloses a embroidery hoop assembly which retains a fabric workpiece securely in place by the use of two securing members, a main clamp to hold the wide end of the workpiece, and an elastic restraint to hold the free end. The main clamp has a wide, spring-loaded bar cooperating with a fixed support to keep the fabric taut over its width, while the elastic restraint keeps the fabric pulled flat, so that the embroidery can be properly applied.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,288, issued to Weidlin Von Boden et al. in May, 1972, discloses a fabric-holding clamp for embroidery machines comprising a pair of hinged, triangular-shaped plates between which a fabric piece is inserted. Compressible, non-slip areas hold the fabric taut across openings in the plates.
Other devices which improve the embroidery process include: U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,797, issued Feb. 4, 1997 to Dennis W. Patterson, describing an alignment stand for aligning the cap in the cap frame before securing it to the machine; U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,496, issued to Morita, et al. Jul. 22, 1997, for improved means to stitch on the temporal area of the cap; and U.K. Patent 2,228,749, published Sep. 5, 1990, describing a device to clamp a frame in an embroidery machine using three-point clamping of the frame.
A problem, which has not been adequately addressed by the conventional devices results from the hat not being in proper alignment with the embroidery frame. This is especially true in regards to the rear of the hat, which, if incorrectly aligned, would tend to offset the embroidered design on the soft portion of the hat regardless of whether the front bill of the hat is aligned and secured.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. In particular, none are seen to describe a hat hoop that enables a user to align both the front and rear of a hat in an embroidery frame. Thus a hat frame for embroidery solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The present invention is a head apparel embroidery hoop and alignment device for use in conjunction with a machine for embroidering and monogramming hats.
The device may be made of any non-metallic, thermoplastic material and works by clamping the head apparel, such as a baseball cap, between a movable plate and a frame having a stationary planar surface. Threaded posts captured by threaded knobs provide the clamping force securing the hat brim to the frame. The device uses alignment marks to ensure the correct axial alignment for the article to be embroidered. The bottom of the device is smooth to ensure good adhesion with a sheet of adhesive stabilizing material, which is used to hold the article in position.
The device is utilized by aligning the embroidery hoop inside a shaped containment hoop provided by the manufacturer of the embroidery machine, using alignment indicia disposed on both the perimeter of the embroidery hoop and the containment hoop.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a head apparel embroidery hoop and alignment device that has an embroidery frame that includes indicia facilitating the alignment of a hat or similar item of apparel within the frame during embroidering.
It is another object of the invention to provide a head apparel embroidery hoop and alignment device having a molded plastic frame fitting within the containment hoop of a predetermined embroidering machine.
It is a further object of the invention to increase the available sewing area on the front surface of a cap by providing a head apparel embroidery hoop and alignment device that has an alignment plate to prevent the brim from obstructing the sewing area of the cap.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an economical head apparel embroidery hoop and alignment device for improving the efficiency of embroidering machines as they are used to place embroidering on caps.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.